The GSI Nations and Cities Index is based on an in-depth analysis of almost 700 major multi-sport games and world championships over a rolling 14-year period, covering seven years in the past and seven years in the future.

This period allows events from a minimum of three Olympic cycles to be taken in to consideration. The index incorporates more than 80 sports, including summer and winter Olympic sports and Olympic ‘recognised’ sports.

The aim is to identify which cities and nations are bidding for and winning the right to host global sports events. In order for it to be truly global the index needs to focus on events that any country can bid for, with a few exceptions for multi-sport games.

Sportcal’s GSI Nations and Cities Index, which is released annually, are products of the GSI Project.

Each event is given a weighting based on its GSI Rating. The rating is calculated using the latest events data across a range of indicators, measuring the size, scale and impact of an event. The data collected is attributed to the four modules of the GSI Project – Economic & Tourism, Media & Sponsorship, Social & Sustainability, Sporting. The core data is then processed to produce the GSI Event Rating.

The GSI Nations and Cities Index is then calculated by summing the GSI Ratings of all events a nation/city has hosted or will host in the future.

A time weighting is given, so that events in the current year are worth 100 per cent of the rating value, while events in previous or future years are worth less.

With more data analysed than ever before, the indices cover a 14-year period, covering seven years in the past and seven years in the future. For example, in April 2018, the analysed period was 2012-2025.